Greenville, Mississippi Rejects the Ku Klux Klan

Mississippi was a hostile place for African Americans in the first part of the 20th century. 

The Mississippi River Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers

In 1879 Congress created the Mississippi River Commission to oversee federal funds for flood control. 

Sharecropper Migration

At its inception, sharecropping in the Delta held the promise of a decent standard of living and independence. 

Robert Moton and the Colored Advisory Commission

Delta Blues Music

As the flood waters rose, many blues artists were inspired to write songs about the disaster and describe the experience of being in a flood.

Hoover Dam: Trailer

During the Great Depression, Americans built the Hoover Dam, overcoming technical challenges to erect one of the greatest engineering works in history.

The High Scalers of Hoover Dam

During the dam's construction, the job of the high scaler was by far the most dangerous.

The Men Who Built the Dam

Hoover Dam was called one of the greatest engineering works in history. 5,000 working men and their families came to live in the Nevada desert. These are men whi built the dam.

Building the Hoover Dam

Major John Wesley Powell conducted geological studies that greatly expanded understanding of the topography of the region.

The Controversial Naming of the Dam

When the dam was officially dedicated on September 30, 1935, the colossal project on the Southern Nevada portion of the Colorado river had been called by several different names.

Workers' Strike at Hoover Dam

The temperature at the work site would routinely soar to above 120 degrees during the summer and plummet to well below freezing in the winter. 

Moving the Concrete

On June 6, 1933, workers poured the first bucket of concrete that would build the dam.